Pubdate: Thu, 21 Sep 2017
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2017 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Randi Druzin
Page: A6
EDUCATION AND COLLABORATION
Hundreds of cannabis industry insiders expected to gather in Niagara
Falls
With the legalization of recreational marijuana less than a year away,
cannabis is becoming a hot topic of conversation across the country
and interest in one of the biggest cannabis events of the year is
intensifying.
Thousands of cannabis industry professionals and others are heading to
Niagara Falls for the Grow Up Conference and Expo, to be held at
Scotiabank Convention Centre on October 6-7.
The conference will include 40 sessions led by industry experts from
both sides of the border and will feature more than a hundred notable
speakers. Among them is Ed Rosenthal, a leading authority on marijuana
who has written or edited more than a dozen world-renowned books
about cannabis cultivation and social policy, marijuana activist Jodie
Emery and John Prentice. He's president and CEO at Ample Organics, a
widely adopted seed-to-sale solution among Canada's licensed
producers. There will be more than a hundred booths at the expo and
organizers expect about 3,000 people to attend Grow Up overall.
"The Canadian cannabis industry could be worth more than $ 21.6
billion, and this is the chance to share information and grow the
industry," says Neill Dixon, co-founder of the event.
The aim of the conference is to develop the cannabis industry through
education and collaboration - so attendees will see licensed producers
connecting with companies that could provide them with many crucial
goods and services from hydroponics and security systems to accounting
and legal counsel.
"We made an early decision to embrace the cannabis industry when many
of the law firms would not for various reasons," said Richard Kimel a
partner at Aird & Berlis and leader of its cannabis group practice.
"We're active in the cannabis space with our ear to the ground, so we
wouldn't miss the chance to be a leading sponsor of the inaugural Grow
Up. Our lawyers chose to get involved with the conference because of
its focus on education and collaboration."
Kimel, whose firm helps clients in the cannabis space by drawing on
its expertise in all principal areas of business law, acknowledges
that the landscape of the nascent cannabis industry is shifting and
that there is "regulatory ambiguity." However, he anticipates the
sector "reaching a new legitimacy' in the next few years. "It's an
exciting time for the Canadian cannabis sector and we're thrilled to
be involved," he says.
"Businesses that are considering getting into the cannabis industry
have questions about it," adds Danya Dixon, vice president of
programming. "The Grow Up Conference and Expo will be a great place to
get answers."
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MAP posted-by: Matt